US cinema shooter suspect held without bond

Miami: A retired police captain who killed a man after an argument over texting in a US cinema told detectives that he feared he was under attack when the victim hit him in the face with an unknown object, police records show.

The object witnesses saw was popcorn.

On Tuesday, a Florida judge denied bond for Curtis J Reeves Jr, 71, who was charged with second-degree murder in a case that is likely to revolve around Florida's much-debated "stand-your-ground" self-defence laws. Mr Reeves faces life in prison if convicted.

Curtis Reeves appears via video link after being charged with murder over a cinema shooting in Florida. Photo: AP

He was arrested after he shot Chad Oulson, 43, who had been sitting in front of him at a matinee in Wesley Chapel, about 30 kilometres north of Tampa. The dispute started during the previews, when Mr Oulson refused to stop texting.

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"He was sitting there texting. It was making noise, and it was causing a problem for Curtis Reeves," the Pasco County sheriff, Chris Nocco, said at a news conference. "Curtis Reeves asked him a few times to turn off his phone, and Chad decided not to."

Mr Reeves left to report the issue to an employee. When he returned, Mr Oulson turned around and complained, asking Mr Reeves whether he had gone to report him to the cinema's management.

Police vehicles parked outside the cinema in Wesley Chapel, Florida, where a man was shot dead after an argument about texting. Photo: Reuters

Mr Reeves, who retired from the Tampa Police Department in 1993, gave an investigator this account: "The victim turned and stood up, striking him in the face with an unknown object," Detective Allen Proctor wrote in a police report. "The defendant advised that he removed the .380 semi-automatic handgun from his pants pocket, firing one round striking the victim, and that he was in fear of being attacked."

Mr Reeves then sat back down and put the gun on his lap, the sheriff's office said. An off-duty deputy in the audience detained him while nurses who had come to see Lone Survivor tried to save Mr Oulson.

Mr Oulson was struck in the chest by a single bullet, the sheriff's office said. The bullet also struck Mr Oulson's wife in the hand.

Family members and friends listen as Curtis Reeves appears via video link after being charged with murder over a shooting in a Florida cinema. Photo: AP

Investigators later learned from witnesses that Mr Oulson had tossed popcorn at Mr Reeves. No punches were thrown, they said.

The police dismissed the notion that Mr Reeves was exercising his right to self-defence.

Florida's self-defence statute, known as the "stand your ground" law, removes a person's duty to retreat when they fear mortal danger. The police in another city in Central Florida, Sanford, cited the law as the reason no arrest was made the night a neighbourhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, shot and killed a teenager in a fight in a gated community in 2012, a decision that prompted protests across the country.

Mr Zimmerman was acquitted in the high-profile shooting of Trayvon Martin last summer.

"I believe 'stand your ground' needs to be proven," Sheriff Nocco said. "It was not proven to us that it was a 'stand your ground' incident."

His office refused to say whether Mr Reeves had a permit for his firearm.

In denying bond for Mr Reeves, Judge Lynn Tepper of Florida's 6th Judicial Circuit said that the "evidence of guilt is significant, and the proof is great".